Competition
by dave-in-exile
Summary: Staking his territory by her request.


"No, sorry."

"Why not? We could-"

"I said _no, sorry._"

"But _why?_"

"Because I-"

"Is it another guy? Because-"

"_Cloud?!_"

Hearing his name called in vain, Cloud looked up from his newspaper at the end of the bar. Seventh Heaven was it's usual dimly-lit afternoon self, and only a few patrons graced it's booths and tables. At the moment, the bar counter along the back wall was empty save for himself and another man, who was rapidly working through a harried and harassed barmaid's last good nerve. She had told him about this worthy. One Duncan Waterly, who thought himself the Planet's own gift to women and had enough gil to really dish out whatever got him what interested him. And that, at the moment, was one girl in black that _Cloud_ was highly interested in. He'd been coming in day after day, offering a large amount of... "gifts", in exchange for an evening getaway with Tifa, "gifts" that Cloud would never be able to offer, not if he worked twenty-four seven for the next three years of his life. He had actually sat down and done the math upon hearing about some of the stuff that had come through Seventh Heaven's door. At first he had been worried (albeit in a well-concealed way) that she would actually go for it, and he felt shamed by those thoughts. He knew her better than that, or at least liked to think he did. Money didn't impress Tifa Lockhart. She had another, far-different-than-normal checklist about what she wanted in a guy, and money wasn't on that list. How else could he explain why he was still living here when his delivery service barely kept Fenrir in fuel? Granted, most of the time he was fairly busy (particularly around holidays, when no one bothered asking why he hadn't been seen in days), and he was usually in the black financially, but other times he was a drain on the funds. He also had nagging doubts about himself and his role in this household. Money may not have been on the list, but high on that checklist, he was _positive_, was "Is there". He had missed that one for nearly three months, and it was only when he had walked into the church and saw her there, lying among the flowers, that he realized that he hadn't been there when she needed him to be like he promised, and _that_ had hit him hard enough to trigger the well-buried pain of his Geostigma. After Sephiroth's second (or was it third?) coming, he had made it a point to "be there" as much as possible, and to call in when he couldn't get back until far too late in the night. It was all he could really offer. She didn't need a strongman or a bouncer (she punched through solid walls like they were balsa wood), she didn't need a Mister Fixit (she could probably do fine as either an electrician or a plumber if the bar went out of business); she didn't need much of anything he had in stock. Yet here he was, because she asked him to stick around today, and never mind the three packages that were due in Kalm by tomorrow. What she wanted she got, as far as he was concerned. Simple as that, and the least he could do for her after she stuck with him after all the crap and the baggage he had in his past.

All of this flashed through his mind in the half-second it took to put his paper down. He rose from his seat, his Mako-stained eyes sweeping the room before he focused on the man at the bar. He walked over to where Tifa and the dandy were standing, and he looked at Tifa questioningly.

"This is Cloud." Tifa gestured towards him as she spoke to Duncan. She reached up and pulled a framed picture off the wall above the bar. "This is _also_ Cloud."

Cloud suppressed a smirk. The picture was of himself flying through the air, a sword in each hand and about to pick a fight with Bahamut SIN. The photographer had been in just the right spot to catch the photo and not be crushed when Cloud used his Braver attack to clobber the thing into the ground.

"Ah. Hello." Duncan said uncomfortably. He turned back to Tifa. "Is he-"

"_Yes._" It was plain as day to Cloud that Tifa was trying very hard not to scream in frustration. "He also lives here. With me. So _no_, I can't go out with you on Saturday. The two of us already have plans."

"I see." Duncan looked defeated. Cloud knew that look, and part of him actually felt sorry for the guy. "I'll take up no more of your time then." He actually bowed before he left. Cloud watched the door slide shut, and on impulse, he followed, ignoring Tifa's questioning look.

He spotted the man walking towards a expensive-looking car parked on the corner. "Hey," he said gruffly.

Duncan winced as he turned. "I apologize, good sir. If there's one thing I don't want to be accused of, it's stealing another man's girl."

"Mmm," Cloud grunted as he dug his cell phone out of his pocket. The fact the guy knew when to back off actually won him a few points, and made Cloud feel better about what he was about to do. "Actually, I've got a number for you. A girl who's currently single, rich, and connected. Not bad-looking, either."

"Oh?" Duncan looked interested. "Who would that be?"

* * *

"You didn't have to scare him away _after_ he left, Cloud." Tifa said as he walked back in and saw everyone else had left. "The whole idea was to spook him by just being there."

"Didn't scare him." Cloud said as he sat back down at his bar stool, then looked back at the door. "Though I don't know if I did the right thing, now that I think about it."

"Oh? What'd you do?" Tifa asked curiously.

"I gave him Yuffie's number."

Tifa looked at him, wide-eyed, then burst into laughter. "That was _mean!_" she gasped as she covered her mouth, though she was still laughing. Cloud wasn't sure _who_ she meant it was mean _to_, so he just shrugged.

"Told you I didn't know if I did the right thing."

* * *

Author's Note: This can be read as a one-off or as a companion piece to my other story Foot in Mouth. Your call. This is just a short little blurb I wrote around the same time as FiM but never posted it anywhere. Heck, I might have written this _first_, I don't remember. I found it buried in a file with about seven different (and unfinished) other projects while I was sifting through my hard drive. Enjoy, and review if you feel like it.


End file.
